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Post-Trash's Best of 2020 | The Year In Review

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by Álvaro Molina, Andy Ciardella, Conor Lochrie, Dan Goldin, David Wilikofsky, Dominic Acito, Elise Barbin, Emma Bauchner, Evan Welsh, Hayden Godfrey, Hugo Reyes, Ian McPhee, Jacob Saxton, James Fast, Jeff Yerger, Jonathan Bannister, Kris Handel, Maria Bobbitt-Chertock, Matthew Gilberto, Mick Reed, Patrick Pilch, Reggie Bender, Sean Fennell, Taylor Ruckle, Taylor Ysteboe, Thrin Vianale, and Aly Muilenburg


We’re all collectively tired of this year. It’s been tough on everyone, in ways that are shared and ways that are unique, but the music remains great. For a lot of people, new releases are just that… a release, an escape, a brief moment of respite. While writing about music began to feel trivial, we kept at it, because for many of us, it’s the discovery of new artists, bands, albums, etc. that keep us going. A lot has changed since last year, but the one thing that never changes is the constant stream of great new music. This year, much like others, was an exceptional one, if you knew where to look. For anyone tired of the bland and monotone, there’s been an influx of bands that bend and shift genre into new forms and new ideas. The familiar becomes experimental. The challenging becomes accessible. Interesting music is being made.

So we present our “Year in Review," a comprehensive guide to our favorite releases of the year, without any pre-determined length or insignificant rankings. If we loved a record, we're including it (unless we just forgot it… which happens, in which case our sincerest of apologies). It's impossible to listen to everything released in a year and everyone has different tastes, but we can’t recommend these particular records enough. Your next favorite band could be out there, it's just a matter of listening to something new. Journey down this rabbit hole with us. Together, we've profiled 100+ of the releases that made Post-Trash’s year survivable, with countless others recommended as "further listening," a section for releases you might have missed, and we might not have spent enough time with. We're not saying these are the best albums, but rather our favorites. Discover something new. Buy some records. Support the music you love. Thank you for reading Post-Trash. - DG


J A N U A R Y :

FURTHER LISTENING:

BLACK LIPS “Sing In A World That’s Falling Apart” | DATENIGHT “Is This Also It” | DONORS “Donors” | DUELING EXPERTS “Dueling Experts” | HUEVOS II “III” | SURFACE TO AIR MISSIVE “Shelly’s Gone” | THANKS FOR COMING “Adding Up” | XETAS “The Cypher”

F E B R U A R Y :

FURTHER LISTENING:

BIG BLOOD “Do You Want To Have A Skeleton Dream?” | GUIDED BY VOICES “Surrender Your Poppy Fields” | LIÉ “You Want It Real” | MATT ROBIDOUX “Brief Candles” | NAVY BLUE “Àdá Irin” | PERSONALITY CULT “New Arrows” | SET-TOP BOX “TV Guide Test” | SHOPPING “All Or Nothing” | SLEEPIES “Time V Pleasure” | SLEEPING BAG & ROZWELL KID “Dreamboats 2” | TOSSER “Total Restraint“ | WHELPWISHER “Safe Sludge”

M A R C H :

FURTHER LISTENING:

BACCHAE “Pleasure Vision“ | CHRIS “What Did I Do To Deserve This?” | CONWAY THE MACHINE & THE ALCHEMIST “Lulu” | HANDLE “In Threes” | LAKE RUTH “Crying Everyone Else’s Tears“ | MAMALEEK “Come and See” | MCKINLEY DIXON “The House That Got Knocked Down” | PINCH POINTS “Live at RRR” | PORRIDGE RADIO “Every Bad” | PSYCHIC FLOWERS “Gloves To Grand Air” | SPACE CAMP “Overjoyed In The World” | WATER FROM YOUR EYES “33:44”

A P R I L :

FURTHER LISTENING:

BOILING HELL “Fluff” | CAUSTIC WOUND “Death Posture” | CB RADIO GORGEOUS “EP” | COLD FEET “Punk Entity” | FRED CRACKLIN “Anxiety Kinship“ | LAUNDROMAT “Blue” | ORDINARY REAPER “No Plans” | P22 “Human Snake” | QUELLE CHRIS & CHRIS KEYS “Innocent Country 2” | SNIFFANY & THE NITS “The Greatest NIts” | TRACE MOUNTAINS “Lost In The Country” | WESTSIDE GUNN “Pray For Paris”

M A Y :

FURTHER LISTENING:

CAFE RACER “Shadow Talk” | THE COOL GREENHOUSE “The Cool Greenhouse” | COUCH SLUT “Take A Chance On Rock ‘N’ Roll” | GRASS JAW “Jump” | LASER BACKGROUND “Evergreen Legend” | LOST BOY ? “Sandman” | MO DOTTI “Blurring” | ONO “Red Summer” | OPTIONS “Wind’s Gonna Blow“ | PARSNIP “Adding Up” | SIC ALPS “Disc Rats (Demos Vol. 1) | WENDY EISENBERG “Dehiscence”

J U N E :

FURTHER LISTENING:

ALL HITS “Men and Their Work” | BUILT TO SPILL “…Plays The Songs of Daniel Johnston” | DIRTY PROJECTORS “Flight Tower” | IRON WIGS “Your Birthday’s Cancelled” | LIVING GATE “Deathlust” | MOMMA “Two Of Me” | NEIL YOUNG “Homegrown” | NO AGE “Goons Be Gone” | OCEANATOR & BARTEES STRANGE “Tear The Fascists Down” | OILY BOYS “Cro Memory Grin” | RUN THE JEWELS “RTJ4” | SPECIAL INTEREST “The Passion Of”

J U L Y :

further listening:

ADVERTISEMENT “American Advertisement” | APOLLO BROWN & CHE’ NOIR “As God Intended” | BOLDY JAMES & STERLING TOLES “Manger on McNichols” | DAMAGED BUG “Bug On Yonkers” | DEHD “Flower of Devotion” | GULCH “Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress” | NEUROTIC FICTION “Romance” | ODDISEE “Odd Cure” | PEEL DREAM MAGAZINE “Moral Panics” | R BOYD & DUSK “High Country Skyway” | RAFTER “Anything Helps” | RESEARCH REACTOR CORP “The Collected Findings Of The Research Reactor Corporation” | SKELETON “Skeleton” | WESTSIDE GUNN “Flygod Is An Awesome God 2” | WHELPWISHER “Okay Sick”

A U G U S T :

Further Listening:

BOLDY JAMES “The Versace Tape” | CLOCK OF TIME “Pestilent Planet” | JOBS “Endless Birthdays” | JUNE OF 44 “Revisionist: Adaptations & Future Histories In The Time Of Love And Survival” | JYOTI “Mama, You Can Bet!“ | PUBLIC EYE “Music for Leisure” | RIBBON STAGE “My Favorite Shrine” | TWICE EYES “Lost Tracks 2010​-​2020” | VINTAGE CROP “Serve to Serve Again”

S E P T E M B E R :

Further Listening:

CONWAY THE MACHINE “From King To A God” | GRASS JAW “Germs“ | HALF STACK “Wings of Love” | HEN OGLEDD “Free Humans” | LANDOWNER “Consultant” | MOTH “Modern Madness” | NANA ADJOA “Big Dreaming Ants” | OLD MAN GLOOM “Zozoburn: Old Man Gloom + Zozobra Live at Fiesta Roadburn” | SINEAD O’BRIEN “Drowning in Blessings” | SWEET WILLIAMS “That What You Hit“ | THIBAULT “Or Not Thibault” | WAX CHATTELS “Clot” | YANKEE BLUFF “Everybody Hits”

O C T O B E R :

Further Listening:

BLACK THOUGHT “Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane and Abel” | HOMEBOY SANDMAN “Don’t Feed The Monster” | KALEIDOSCOPE “Decolonization” | LIFEGUARD “Dive” | NINA RYSER “Paths of Color“ | OSEES “Metamorphosed” | POPULATION II “À la Ô Terre“ | PSYCHIC FLOWERS “Freedom of Failure” | SERENGETI “With Greg From Deerhoof“ | SMALL BILLS “Don’t Play It Straight“ | STAFFERS “In The Pigeon Hole” | STRAW MAN ARMY “Age of Exile” | WESTSIDE GUNN “Who Made The Sunshine”

N O V E M B E R :

Further Listening:

BELK “Umpire” | THE CHIVES “The Chives” | DAVID NANCE “September 20, 2020” | DUMMY “EP2” | FUMING MOUTH “Beyond The Tomb“ | GHOST FUNK ORCHESTRA “Ad Ode To Escapism” | GLORIOUS DEPRAVITY “Ageless Violence” | GOODIE MOB “Survival Kit” | HORSEGIRL “Ballroom Dance Scene et cetera (Best of Horsegirl)“ | PANTHER HOLLOW “Songwiring“ | PEELING “Worshipper” | SIC ALPS “Supplemental Cozy (Demos Vol. 2)“ | SOFT BLUE SHIMMER “Heaven Inches Away” | SOUL GLO “Songs to Yeet at the Sun“ | THANKS FOR COMING “To be Honest, I Was Lying“ | TIÑA “Positive Mental Health Music” | ZIPPER “Dreamer’s Gate”

D E C E M B E R :

Further Listening:

BOLDY JAMES & REAL BAD MAN “Real Bad Boldy” | THE CRADLE “Walking With The Moon” | DJ MUGGS “Winter” | DUELING EXPERTS “DE2: Sand The Floor” | EIEIEIO “Gentle Spaniels” | THE EUROSUITE “Hot Off Depress“ | MCLUSKY “Gateway Band (Mclusky Live) | MOOR MOTHER & BILLY WOODS “Brass” | SONNY FALLS “All That Has Come Apart​/​Once Did Not Exist“ | SUMAC “Two Beasts” | UNDERGANG “Aldrig I Livet”